Brian tells Kate exactly what he thinks. Jennifer tells Kate Brian is right. David tells Pip how wonderful she is.

Radio Times: Kate faces some hard home truths, and Ruth is a dutiful daughter.

Characters: Brian, David, Jennifer, Kate, Lilian, Pip

• Looking for her mother, Kate encounters Lilian, and tells her she has given up her course due to the narrow mindedness of her tutor. Lilian is mildly sympathetic, and dismissed the swimming pool incident as an amusing interlude. Asked whether she might not change her mind, Kate makes it clear there is no chance of her going back; maybe the nature of her leaving was not entirely as Kate depicted it. Meanwhile Kate wants Lilian to break the news to Brian and Jennifer, but this really is a step too far. Lilian tells her she must do it herself.
• David returns from Prudhoe to find Pip in the milking parlour. It seems that Ruth will not be able to leave Heather for some time yet. Pip tells him how upset Jill was at Kenton’s angry outburst.
• Over supper Brian is cynical about Christine’s proposed move to The Lodge, but his thoughts on the matter are interrupted by Kate arriving to tell her parents she has dropped out of her course. If she was expecting sympathy, Kate could not be more wrong. Instead Brian tells her some very plain home truths; she has no sense of responsibility, she always blames other people for her escapades, she sets no example to Phoebe, and she needs to grow up. Exit Brian with a slam of the door. And if Kate was expecting her mother to take her side, again she could not be more wrong. Jennifer says that Brian was entirely fair in what he said; it’s time for Kate to show some adult responsibility. Exit Kate with a slam.
• David helps Pip take the cows out, and droolingly tells her that she has the magic touch, with rising milk production despite the flood. Oddly, it seems that David doesn’t know when Pip will be starting her new job. Pip does not seem keen to talk about it.
• Lilian encounters Jenny trying to concentrate on her book. Trying to put a positive gloss on the situation, Lilian suggests that life is easier when adult children are far away and you have no idea what they are up to. It fails to console Jenny, who asks just where they went wrong in bringing Kate up.